The City of Quincy is known by outsiders as the City of Presidents, but is known by residents as a vigorous urban commercial and business center serving the surrounding towns in Norfolk and Plymouth counties.

First settled in 1625 by traders, Quincy was established as a town in 1792 and incorporated as a city in 1888. The original rural agricultural economy was quickly supplemented by fishing and then shipbuilding and granite quarrying. The Quincy quarries provided the granite for the Bunker Hill Monument among other famous structures, while the descendent of previous yards, the Fore River shipyard, built and launched many of the merchant and naval ships that sailed the world's oceans until long past the Second World War. Immigrants from Italy, Sweden, Finland, Scotland and Ireland came to work in the shipyards and granite quarries and to diversity the Yankee population.

English settlers retaining farms in Quincy into the 18th century included the Adams family, two of whose members became ambassadors, legislators and presidents and John Hancock, the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams followed George Washington as president of the United States and his son John Quincy Adams followed Thomas Jefferson as president. The relatively modest Adams homestead still stands in its orchard and garden in Quincy, one of the many things that draw visitors to the City.

Linked to Boston by rapid transit, Quincy now has some characteristics of a suburban bedroom community, including comfortable and pleasant neighborhoods, while retaining the earmarks of an urban center with its strong commercial and shopping areas.